According to sources with the Beijing High People's Court, 10 percent of the total judgments made by courts in Beijing in the last three years were not enforced.

 

No figures are available for the nationwide situation, but the Supreme People's Court has decided to start a half-year campaign to enforce judicial decisions that have not been carried out, a national televised conference revealed yesterday.

 

In a typical case, Liu Xuehong, a resident in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, paid 80,000 yuan (US$9,924) to a local real estate company in 1993 to buy a house. However, Liu found two years later that the company had sold the house to someone else as well.

 

The Nanchang Intermediate People's Court made a final judgment in 1998, ruling that the company repay Liu the 80,000 yuan (US$9,924) plus legal costs amounting to 90,000 yuan (US$11,164).

 

"However, the judgment has not been enforced up to now," Liu said.

 

Moreover, many judgments are not enforced due to regional and departmental interests, which has become a headache for the judicial system.

 

"When faced with regional and departmental protectionism, courts should report to supervision departments for support," Cao Jianming, executive vice president of the Supreme People's Court told yesterday's conference.

 

According to Chinese law, commissions for discipline inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and government supervision departments are responsible for investigating and punishing Party and government officials involved in corruption and malfeasance, or who disobey Party and government rules.

 

The cases will then be transferred to judicial organs if they are suspected to be in violation of the law.

 

According to the Criminal Law, refusal to meet obligations or orders from the courts is a crime, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

 

According to the Supreme People's Court, a working plan will be fixed by next month.

 

An examination will be conducted in June and July into the success of the campaign.

 

(China Daily January 24, 2006)